The Boston Flower Exchange will move to a new home in Chelsea in early January, as its longtime South End property is eyed for a large mixed-use development.

The wholesale cooperative leased 65,000 square feet at 260 Second Ave., said Austin Smith, a senior vice president for Colliers International Boston. The property formerly housed Kettle Cuisine, which moved to an expanded manufacturing site in Lynn in 2014.

The flower exchange has begun $2 million in improvements to the interior and landlord Cassano Development will install a new roof, Smith said. Cupp & Cupp Flowers of Boston is the lessee and the remainder of the flower vendors will be subtenants.

Large industrial spaces are scarce in Boston and the inner suburbs, with only 150,000 square feet of industrial space currently available in high-quality buildings, Smith said.

“They were very lucky,” he said. “They were in a jam, and that was really the last legitimate conventional construction industrial building that was available for them to look at.”

260 Second Ave. in Chelsea

A safe environment for customers who arrive in the pre-dawn hours was a major consideration of the flower exchange when looking at new locations, Smith said.

Boston-based developer Abbey Group acquired the wholesale market’s 5.6-acre property at 540 Albany St. last spring with an eye toward a large mixed-use development including housing and commercial space marketed to office and lab tenants.